SAS Partnerships

Penn in Paraguay

Contributions from alumni, students, parents, and other friends enabled 11 students in the Fox Leadership Program to participate in service projects in Paraguay this summer. They did construction work at schools and a hospital in Tobatí, the country’s second-largest town. They also distributed shoes and clothing to children there.

Projects included building a restroom in an elementary school, clearing the site for a new hospital storage facility, raising walls in a new classroom, and building an athletic court—significant contributions for a town where more than three-quarters of the population is under 19, few roads are paved, and most homes lack electricity and indoor plumbing. The trip wasn’t all about hammering nails, laying tile, and mixing cement, though. The Fox students, who explore theories of leadership in their course work, got an opportunity to test their own leadership styles through these tasks. They also learned to view leadership through the eyes of another culture.

The students may have gone to Tobatí prepared to help others, but they feel they gained much more than they gave. They were humbled by an elaborate welcoming ceremony that included traditional dances and a presentation of medals inscribed with their names. The students got to know many of the children who came to the construction sites to help. According to junior Jason Oberman, the children’s presence made the students want to work even harder. The Tobatenos also invited them to dances and parties. “Even with nothing, they had so much to give,” said senior Jenny Lane, Fox’s student director. “It makes you grateful for what you have,” added Oberman. The Fox Program hopes to continue such projects in future years. For more about the trip, see www.sas.upenn.edu/home/news/paraguay.html.

Research Internships

Twelve undergraduates recently studied the dynamics of Penn’s arts and cultural organizations as part of a new summer research institute. The College launched the program with Penn’s Center for Undergraduate Research and Fellowships to encourage independent research in the humanities and social sciences.

These full-time internships provide undergraduates with hands-on experience in a cultural, historical, or archival environment right here at Penn. Participating institutions include the Arthur Ross Gallery, Institute of Contemporary Art, Kelly Writers House, Morris Arboretum, University Museum, Penn Press, University Archives, and Van Pelt-Dietrich Library.

The program has been made possible by the generosity of alumni and friends like Jay Fishman, W’74, WG’74, who made a gift in honor of former Penn president Judith Rodin, CW’66. At Rodin’s suggestion, he directed his gift to the Rodin-Fishman Summer Research Internship Fund. In addition to commemorating Rodin’s legacy of service, Fishman said that this fund allowed him to support a pedagogic initiative “reflective of Judith Rodin’s own personal goals of education.”

Other supporters include university trustee Paul C. Williams, W’67, who established summer internships in honor of outgoing SAS dean Samuel H. Preston, and library overseer David B. Weigle, W’69, who funded an internship in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library.

Lynch Laboratory

How do you thank someone like Carolyn Hoff Lynch, CW’68? Someone who dedicated nine years to studying the needs of the biology faculty and developing a plan for improved facilities? Who convened a group of alumni experts to study the plan from every angle? Who convinced administrators
a new building was needed? Who advocated for the project among her fellow trustees and overseers? And who with her husband, Peter S. Lynch, WG’68, contributed $10 million to ensure its future? You name the building for her.

Accordingly, the first phase of the new life sciences complex will be called the Carolyn Hoff Lynch Biology Laboratory. The pond in the neighbor-ing James G. Kaskey Memorial Park will also bear her name. The building will feature flexible modules that can be reconfigured to accommodate emerging research priorities and cross-disciplinary work. It will also house conference rooms; faculty offices; plant growth chambers; greenhouses; wet laboratories for biology and genomics research; and animal, plant, and fish facilities. Work will proceed in two phases: construction of the Lynch building, projected for completion next year, then demolition of two existing buildings and construction of the remainder of the complex, which will support state-of-the-art research and teaching in biology and psychology.

Partners Gift of Friendship

The 1981 drama My Dinner with André reflects the simple pleasure of two men exchanging life stories over the course of an evening meal, illustrating the give and take found in the best of friendships. According to Zellerbach Family Professor of Sociology Frank F. Furstenberg, Jr., he and his chair donor, William Zellerbach, W’42, engage in similar conversations whenever they meet, talking about everything from society and politics to their families—
and even horse racing.

Furstenberg first met Zellerbach, director and chairman of the board of the San Francisco-based Zellerbach Family Foundation and a former university trustee, in 1990, shortly after Furstenberg was appointed to the Zellerbach chair
in SAS. They reconnected several years later and have since enjoyed what Zellerbach calls a “warm-hearted and open friendship” built upon a mutual commitment to promoting social change in disadvantaged communities.
Widely known for his pioneering contri-butions to urban and family sociology, Furstenberg has applied his expertise in advising Zellerbach on his family’s foundation. Suggesting books to read and political issues to consider, the chair holder has also provided the chair donor with the liberal arts education he feels he missed while earning a business degree.

Furstenberg, meanwhile, expresses his strong admiration for Zellerbach, describing him as a mentor who has taught him the importance of “using one’s advantages to address the disadvantages of others.” Zellerbach has also provided Furstenberg with supplemental grant support beyond the usual research funding that goes with a chair. This has enabled Furstenberg to develop a unique training program for future public policy scholars interested in studying the effects of neighborhood inequality.

Equally humble, Zellerbach and Furstenberg cannot seem to agree on
who has received the greater benefit from their decade-long friendship. Nobody, however, can dispute that, together, these like-minded humanitarians have made positive social changes that will impact communities for years to come.